Things worth reading:16th July 2009

Things we're reading today include ...

Today's must read

Goldman Sachs' bonus machine risk a poltical backlash (Telegraph)

"It would be easy for Goldman Sachs employees to forget there’s a financial
crisis still going on. The Wall Street firm posted stunning second-quarter
earnings and set
aside a record amount of treasure to pay staff.  But Goldman’s minions would be wise to tip their hats to the contributory role
of the very visible hand of the taxpayer. Markets may still be rough, but
the biggest remaining risk to Goldman’s franchise could be a political and
public backlash against the group’s profits - and particularly its pay."

Key Headlines

Tut-tut

Bailed-out bankers share in £7bn pay and bonus pool as Goldman Sachs posts massive profit (Daily Mail)
Goldman Sachs caves in to critical blogger 
(Telegraph)

Paulson will defend threat to oust BofA chief (Times)
Paulson admits bank merger threat
(BBC)

Cards and Payments

O2 to enter financial services with NatWest (Times)
American Express suspends payments into UK stakeholder pensions (Telegraph)
PayPal shuts us down (Hackers for Charity Blog)

Capital Markets

LCH emerges as bid target(Telegraph)
BATS starts dark pool price war (Financial Times)
LSE cuts jobs as recession hits (Telegraph)

Economies

Germany Has Been Slow to Fix Its Banks (New York Times)
China's foreign reserves top $2tn (BBC)

Quote of the Day:

"In the first quarter of 2009 we reported a
decline in trust in banks, likely a result of the negative perception
perpetuated by news stories of banking disasters, layoffs and
bailouts."
The art of understatement from Luigi Zingales, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Financial Trust Index: 21 Percent of Americans Trust the Financial System (PR Newswire)

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